Loading
Even though Tampa Bay lost its bid for the 2014 Super Bowl to New York/New Jersey, it's going to do what the Buccaneers normally do: Get ready for next season.
The local Super Bowl Host Committee already had contingency plans in place to bid again next year for the National Football League championship in 2015. While Tampa hosted Super Bowls in 1984, 1991, 2001 and 2009, sports observers heavily favored New York/New Jersey because a new $1.6 billion stadium is being built in East Rutherford, N.J.
“It was a hard-fought battle, and we felt like we put together a solid bid,” says Travis Claytor, communications director for Tampa Bay & Co., the local convention bureau. He adds that Tampa would not automatically be invited by the NFL to bid again for the Super Bowl, but will prepare for that possibility.
The first vote among the 32 NFL owners meeting in Dallas Tuesday afternoon did not produce a required 75% majority. South Florida, which has hosted 10 prior Super Bowls including this year's game, was eliminated on the second vote as the lowest vote getter.
But since there wasn't a 75% majority on the third vote, a simple majority vote was taken on the fourth try. Voting and the formal announcement was televised live for the first time on the NFL Network.
Tampa was hopeful it could overcome long odds again, having won its fourth Super Bowl bid even though it had been considered a lock for Atlanta. Ironically, an ice storm prior to Atlanta's 2000 Super Bowl, played indoors at the Georgia Dome, was believed to have scuttled its chances.
Had the NFL selected Tampa as the site of Super Bowl XLVIII, it would have been the Bay area's second major victory for hospitality this month. On May 12 the Republican National Committee chose Tampa to host the 2012 GOP convention for the first time.
Your free article limit has been reached this month.
Subscribe now for unlimited digital access to our award-winning business news.
Join thousands of executives who rely on us for insights spanning Tampa Bay to Naples.
